Articles - Page 47

Bland Brands Beware: Optimizely’s New Identity Brings Human Creativity to its Agentic AI and AEO Ambitions

matt-garrepy

Nowadays there’s so much information, data and statistics in the workplace that organizing, managing and sharing it is a challenge for businesses. How do you make all that knowledge work for you? How do you make it accessible to staff? It’s true – what’s the point of having all this organizational knowledge if it’s not contributing to your business goals. Essentially, all that any company really wants is for employees to be able to access the right information at the right time. And that should be at the heart of any <a href="https://www.myhubintranet.com/knowledge-transfer/">knowledge transfer</a> and management system. But how do you go about achieving it? Well in this post we look at some of the ways organizations have been approaching this issue and we then go on to look at what the intranet has to offer in this context. First though let’s be clear about what knowledge management is all about.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/knowledge-transfer632x0-is.png" />
What Is Knowledge Transfer And Management? 
Advances in technology and the advent of the internet mean that there is now more information than ever in the workplace. And the terms knowledge transfer and management simply refers to the systems companies have in place for publishing, managing and sharing that organizational knowledge so that it helps in achieving business goals. And it includes both internal and external sources of knowledge.
Companies that take a strategic approach to knowledge transfer and management make better, more informed decisions. They also tend to be more productive and innovative and are able to respond to change more quickly and efficiently. The key word here though is strategic. To be effective, a company’s knowledge management system needs to be aligned to business goals rather than simply collecting data just for the sake of it. Information in itself is not knowledge. How that information is applied in the context of the workplace is the key.
Organizations’ Traditional Approach To Knowledge Transfer And Management
For some companies, knowledge management consists of a filing cabinet packed full of every policy, procedure and company report ever produced. For others it’s a combination of paper and email-based systems as well as databases. However, more often than not the information is in silos within individual teams or departments with very little sharing and collaboration across the whole organization.
What’s more, lots of businesses have come to rely on wikis as being the primary mechanism for organizational knowledge management. And so let’s look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of wikis as a knowledge management system.
Advantages Of Wikis
A <a href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/wiki.html">wiki</a> is essentially a webpage or database that has been developed collaboratively by a group of users. Any user can add or edit the content. And so wikis make it quick and easy to work with others on editing information in a webpage. And because users are working collaboratively, wikis can facilitate discussion and communication within a business. Wikis tend to work best in smaller teams with limited numbers of users. You often see them in the context of software development with users sharing information and insights on common issues and the development of best practices.
Disadvantages Of Wikis
There are, however, some downsides to using wikis. Often their free-for-all nature means that they lack structure. What’s more, contributions are unmoderated and so some are more focused and helpful than others. And frequently the contributions are not aligned to any overall business goals. In addition, wikis can have limited search capabilities which makes it difficult to find the precise data that you’re looking for.
And so while there is definitely a place for wikis in modern businesses, their usefulness as a knowledge management tool may be limited. In contrast the company intranet has a number of distinct advantages when it comes to knowledge management and so let’s turn our attention to what the intranet has to offer in this context.
Advantages Of An Intranet
The intranet is the perfect starting point for developing a comprehensive, strategic knowledge management system. Why? Well, for a start the intranet is accessible to all staff who are already using it on a daily basis. What’s more, it’s intuitive and simple to use and the information and knowledge can be quickly and easily shared across the whole organization or by team and department – whatever makes sense to your business. In addition, the intranet has intuitive menu and site navigation, backed up by an advanced search capability which means that staff members can quickly and easily locate the specific piece of knowledge they’re after.
These advantages make the intranet the perfect system for organizational knowledge management. And just to illustrate this further, let’s look at a couple of practical examples of how a knowledge management system might work on the intranet.
Practical Examples Of Knowledge Transfer Management Using An Intranet 
Is your business based on sales? Use the intranet to enable your sales personnel to keep track of their sales numbers, sales leader boards, client relationship information and sales tips and tricks all on one central platform. What’s more, the intranet will be accessible to your sales team from any mobile device, even when they’re out on the road.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/lead-by-example.jpg" />Is your business service-based? Let’s say, for example, you service office photocopier machines. Your field personnel will need to have knowledge of many types of different complex machines, common issues and how to fix them. It’s impractical and unproductive to train the repairers on all machines and the way round that is to use the intranet to organize and manage the knowledge from the perspective of the employee. And so from a main menu that lists the different brands of photocopiers, the pages can naturally link off to common problems and how to resolve them. Or they could be a series of sub-pages with specific models that then branch off to detailed maintenance manuals. Whatever approach or combination of approaches you adopt, the important thing is to transfer the knowledge to the right person at the tight time.
Perhaps you have a cross-departmental project that requires collaborative working amongst staff? It may be that you are developing a digital marketing strategy, an employee wellness initiative or a new company logo. Use the intranet to facilitate joint working by setting up a project space where staff can share insights, data and best practice ideas as well as collaborating in real time on documents using an embedded Google Apps or Office 365 app. Eliminate the need for long email conversations, face-to-face meetings and the sending of documents back and forth with the far more efficient and effective intranet.
Why make life more complicated than it needs to be? There’s already too much to think about in the workplace without overcomplicating things. An intranet enables you to effectively manage your organizational knowledge alongside a range of other business improvements all within one easy to use platform. Keep it simple in your business and use the intranet for your knowledge management.
Interested in finding out more? Contact the team at MyHub for an informal discussion about knowledge management or any of the other great benefits an intranet has to offer. Better still take advantage of our no obligation demo or <a href="https://freetrial.myhubintranet.com/freetrial">14-day free trial</a>. Get in touch today.

Knowledge Transfer And Management Made Easy

mike-johnston

If there's one thing that I've learned in my many years covering the CMS space, it's that I will never truly know about every single CMS out there, no matter how hard I try. Every day, it seems, a new content management system hits the ‘net and while some of the developers of these systems are good at marketing and pushing their product, many aren't.
That's one of the reasons I started CMS Critic in the first place over 6 years ago. I wanted to share my experiences with each CMS (including the lesser known ones) and help people find the real hidden gems.
Finding the perfect CMS is not an easy thing to accomplish. So today, I'm going to share with you some suggestions and tips I've learned over my many years of consulting and providing advice.
<h2>Don't be wowed by the interface.</h2>
There are some beautiful and stunning interfaces within a large number of content management systems out there but one important thing to keep in mind is that, just like choosing a partner, you don't always want to make your selection based on looks. The adage “it's what's on the inside that counts” couldn't possibly be more true and applies to far more than just dating and relationships. I've seen a significant number of CMS with beautiful interfaces but little to no functionality or they are chock full of bugs. That's not to say there aren't the exceptions to the rule but it's definitely something to keep in mind. It's easy to make something pretty, it's hard to make it pretty AND functionally useful.
Don't always be quick to dismiss the system with the simple interface. More often than not, these are the first ones you should look at. Usually, it's a sign that the developer prefers less bloat and is more focused on the code and functionality. In some cases, it's the flip-side and simple literally means simple but it's important to always thoroughly explore all options before you write something off as “too plain” or “too fancy”.
<h2>Do make a list of of needs and wants.</h2>
Another important item people tend to overlook when searching for a CMS is the requirement for a clear and concise need / want list. This list should be very straight forward and easy to compile. I recommend getting together with members of each functional area that will be using the CMS (or supporting it) and listing out items that absolutely MUST be in the new CMS and items that would simply be ‘nice to have'.
Some examples of needs might be:
<ul>
<li>Strong workflow functionality.</li>
<li>Integration with existing ecommerce suite.</li>
<li>Multilingual capabilities</li>
</ul>
An example of a want might be:
<ul>
<li>Workflow Notification by SMS (system may have email notification but no SMS in which case, you could make do fine if it fit your other requirements).</li>
</ul>
I recommend always making sure you involve all of the business units that will be in some way touching the system. This helps eliminate frustration amongst all parties and allows everyone to feel like they've had a chance to offer their input.
Don't forget to think about what you already have (if you are currently using a homegrown system or another CMS) and what you couldn't live without during a change.
<h2>Do check out each vendors support groups / forums / Twitter accounts (if available).</h2>
It's vital that you always check out how a vendor treats their existing customers before you go spending money with them. I recommend checking out their Twitter accounts thoroughly (if they have them).
<ul>
<li>Do they reply to queries from existing and potential customers?</li>
<li>Are they helpful when doing so?</li>
<li>How active are they on each platform?</li>
</ul>
Forums are another excellent way to see how people are reacting to a certain product. If the company you are considering is not active and assisting those with questions, steer clear as it's a sure sign of nightmares down the road.
<h2>Do contact each vendor you are considering and ask lots of questions.</h2>
Don't be afraid to grill each vendor you are considering. A good vendor will be happy to answer your questions and if they want your business, they will do their best to give you thorough and complete answers. This is another great way to guage how much value the vendor places on acquiring you as a customer. A good vendor will work hard for your business, answering your questions and directing you to the correct resources.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/questions_to_ask_when_chosing_a_cloud_vendor1.jpg" />
This is also a good way to guage how quickly a vendor can respond with accurate answers. If it takes them a long time and you get bounced from person to person, this could be a good indicator as to how easy or hard it might be to get support down the road if you became their customer.
<h2>Do not let the vendor lead the demo for you.</h2>
Now, this might seem a little bit odd but I've seen a number of demos where the customer has simply sat back and let the vendor lead the demo showcasing all of the great stuff within their product. Here's the problem with letting the vendor lead the demo, they will only show you the stuff that works and works well. 
I always recommend making a list of what you expect from the demo, what do you want to see, what you do not care about and telling the vendor how to proceed. Don't be afraid to throw in curveball questions during the demo to see how they react. Can they answer your question? Are they lost and stammering? These things are important as well as they make the vendor think how they would use their system to accomplish your specific tasks and since you are on a demo, you can visualize how easy it might be for you as a customer as well.
This is a critical one and can be the a significant deciding factor when choosing a product so don't be afraid to take charge! It's your money after all.
—
I hope these few items help you in your search for the perfect CMS. Do you have other things you think are important that you'd like to share? Please do so in the comments below

How to Find the Perfect CMS

<a href="https://wpengine.com/">WP Engine</a>, a WordPress hosting company, has announced the introduction of <a href="https://wpengine.com/support/best-practices-using-wp-engine-page-performance/">Page Performance</a>, which will focus on delivering actionable insights for websites across its 47,000 customers and agency partners in 133 countries.
<img style="max-width:432px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wp_engine_logo_bb.png" alt="wp_engine_logo_bb" />
Impressively, this product launch makes WP Engine the first managed WordPress platform to offer a web page speed performance tool integrated into the user dashboard through which customers can quickly improve the speed of their websites.
<h2>WP Engine Page Performace</h2>
Here's a breakdown of the benefits brought forth by WP Engine's newest project:
<ul>
<li>Access to Key Metrics on Any Page with Report History to See Improvements Over Time. Report includes such metrics as cacheability, render start, visitor complete, render complete and other data.</li>
<li>Actionable Recommendations with Rich Context including links to a library of support material enable users to make fast, significant, measurable impact to site performance.</li>
<li>Integrated into WP Engine User Portal to support developer workflow.</li>
</ul>
<h2>“Helping Out Customers Win Online”</h2>
Website speed is a major part of Search Engine Optimization, and WP Engine have recognized this with this release, as Heather Brunner, CEO of WP Engine, states:
<blockquote>“WP Engine Performance Intelligence is our ongoing commitment to develop tools and insights to help our customers win online.
A website’s speed affects nearly every metric a brand or agency might care about from page views to conversion rates. Our Page Performance product gives you specific recommendations to do just that.”</blockquote>
According to a recent study published on <a href="https://blog.kissmetrics.com/speed-is-a-killer/">KISSmetrics</a>, a one-second delay in page load time results in 11 percent fewer page views; a 16 percent decrease in customer satisfaction; and a 7 percent drop in conversion. Thus proving that site performance can make or break a brand and a customer’s digital experience.
The aim of WP Engine’s Page Performance feature is to gives site owners a detailed site speed report and actionable recommendations to solve for technical issues impacting digital business.
I think WP Engine has made a strong move with this project. It's well established that site speed plays a big role in SEO and overall user experience, and a WordPress-integrated performance checker will surely play into the hands of SEO specialists who work with WordPress.
To find out more about WP Engine's new Page Performance features, <a href="https://wpengine.com/support/best-practices-using-wp-engine-page-performance/">check out their website</a>.
And as per usual, you can explore and review this product through the <a href="/products/wp-engine/">WP Engine hub</a> on our Hosting Directory.

WP Engine Rolls Out WordPress Integrated Page Performance Tool

Emails were once considered the quickest and most efficient form of digital communication – of course, this was when digital communications were young.
Now there are multiple chat platforms for both personal and professional use. Social media sites, apps, and enterprise resource management suites all give people the chance to communicate quickly and reliably across multiple devices.
Does this mean the email is dead? Not by any means.
But it does mean the email has moved toward a certain format. What it lacks in speed and convenience, it makes up for in formality. It’s the digital world’s version of a letter – but just like real mail, there’s usually a mix of good content and junk floating around.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/adobestock_91528736761x0-is.jpeg" />
Email marketing is still a popular field. Even beyond things like search engine marketing and social media marketing, emails can be very effective at presenting offers. So how do successful email marketers avoid the junk folder and make their campaigns a success?
<h2>Good Email Marketers Send Good Content</h2>
The best way to stay out of the junk folder? Don’t send junk.
There’s a fine line between presenting someone with a professional offer at an address set up for these inquiries and spamming their inbox with cash-grabbing schemes.
Good email marketers don’t target inboxes where they aren’t welcomed. This isn’t just a matter of character – there’s some strategy involved as well. Once an address or a brand gets a bad reputation for spamming, it can be hard to shake it. While it could take seconds to switch to a new email, it could take much longer for a brand to recover.
Looking professional is a big part of the task. A reader will be much more at ease, and thus much more receptive to inbox inquiries that look like they have something realistic to offer.
<h2>Use Recognizable Brand Names and Email Service Providers</h2>
If a business or entrepreneur is at the point where they’re sending out emails to clients and trying to implement a marketing campaign, they should have an established brand.
This could be conveyed in the form of a nice title, which ties into things like the email signature, an included website, and other sources that further show the sender is trustworthy. This also shows the sender, who is marketing their services, has likely delivered these same services (successfully) to other clients in the past.
It can be tempting to make custom email addresses that use the business’s title. While it is possible to get certifications that tie into an associated website and mark the email address as secure, using a more common email service provider is often a better idea. It’s safer, and seeing Gmail, Yahoo!, or Hotmail may be less likely to arouse suspicion in a reader.
If you must use a custom email address, look into solutions like ReturnPath to get certified as a trusted sender. And as always, test your ideas first. If your email marketing campaign looks fishy to you, it will likely end up in spam – either automatically or by the recipient’s own hand.

How Successful Email Marketers Avoid the Spam Folder

The Washington Post’s Arc Publishing has signed an agreement with <a href="http://www.leparisien.fr/">Le Parisien </a>to power the publication’s digital presence. Founded by the French underground during World War II, Le Parisien is known outside Paris as Aujourd’hui en France (“Today in France”) and is one of the largest newspapers in the country, reaching more than 20 million monthly unique visitors and with the largest general national news daily print circulation of more than 320,000.
“We are so pleased Le Parisien has chosen Arc to realize their digital ambitions and help position them for future success, ” said Scot Gillespie, CTO at The Post. “With this partnership, Arc will power sites on four continents and operate in multiple languages. We look forward to another year of tremendous growth and continued investment in the platform.”
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/download.png" />
The Arc engineering team will migrate Le Parisien to the Arc platform, building a new site for them and integrating Arc tools including PageBuilder and Websked into their newsroom’s day-to-day workflow.
“Le Parisien is choosing Arc for offering a complete publishing platform solution which will support and enable significant site performance improvements,” said Sophie Gourmelen, General Manager of Le Parisien. “The many capabilities of Arc will furthermore allow us to focus our time and the efforts of our teams on product innovation.”
About The Washington Post’s Arc Publishing Arc Publishing (<a href="https://www.arcpublishing.com/">https://www.arcpublishing.com/</a>) is an award-winning, state-of-the-art digital platform and suite of tools that’s engineered to meet the needs of modern publishers. Built by engineers and designers at The Washington Post, Arc technology solves complex publishing needs, including video, mobile web and apps, syndication to distributed platforms, automatic content testing, data mining and monetization. Arc has powered the digital transformation of clients both large and small across the globe. At its core, Arc is about speed and innovation: for readers, the newsroom, brands, advertisers and developers.

The Washington Post’s Arc Publishing signs Le Parisien

<a href="http://liferay.com/" target="_blank">Liferay, Inc.</a>, has announced the release of its Audience Targeting app for Liferay Portal.
Liferay offers <a href="http://liferay.com">open source portals</a> fit for enterprising companies and orgnizations, including Fortune 500 companies such as Allianz, Siemens, Toyota and the United Nations.
Through Liferay's new Audicence Targeting app, companies can show the right content at the right time to their visitors to create the most relevant, engaging web experience for the people they want to reach.
<h2>The Big Three Audience Engagement Questions</h2>
Marketers across the world are constantly in search of ways to connect with their audiences and have online conversations through valuable, interesting content. Using Liferay's Audience Targeting app, businesses can make authentic connections with their customers, partners, employees and any other individuals visiting their sites.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/liferay_-_audience_targeting_config_admin700x0.png" />
The app, which is now <a href="https://www.liferay.com/marketplace/-/mp/application/43707691">available on the Liferay Marketplace</a>, offers the ability to tailor specific content for audiences based on user behavior on the site, user information such as age and gender, social media attributes, and more. Marketers can also create targeted campaigns, track user actions and generate reports on the effectiveness of the campaigns.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/liferay_-_audience_targeting_user_rules700x0.png" />
Edwin Chung, VP of Product Development for Liferay, made these comments:
<blockquote>“Getting audience engagement right comes down to solving three questions. Who are you trying to engage, what information is important to that person, and what is the best way to display the targeted content on your site? Whether it’s your customers, your partners, or your employees, personalized audience engagement is quickly becoming an expected part of their interactions with your company.
We recognize this and continue to evolve our solutions for audience engagement and content targeting to give our customers the tools they need to provide better, more customized user experiences across the board.”</blockquote>
According to Liferay, their position as a portal provider gives them a uniquely advantageous position to serve the entire customer lifecycle, from prospecting to deal closing to ongoing customer service interaction.
To learn more about how you can use Liferay Portal to engage audiences, visit <a href="http://www.liferay.com/engage">www.liferay.com/engage</a>. You can also find out more about Liferay's new Audience Targeting app via their recent blog post.
Additionally, be sure to check out <a href="/products/liferay/" target="_blank">Liferay through our CMS Directory</a>.

Liferay Unveils Audience Targeting App For Liferay Portal

In 2016, people who Google a service or a product are expecting to land on something specific. This is why small, beautiful websites are everywhere, with each one dedicated to a service, a product, or an event.The age of the landing page, inbound marketing campaign and SEO is well and truly here, with each of those building blocks making up the basics behind growth hacking.Website builders are arguably the best tools to design such small-to-medium sized sites. But what are these tools exactly?<a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website_builder">Wikipedia's article about website builders</a> states that:<blockquote>Website builders are tools that typically allow the construction of websites without manual code editing. They fall into two categories:<ul><li>Online proprietary tools provided by web hosting companies</li><li>Offline software which run on a computer, creating pages and which can then publish these pages on any host</li></ul></blockquote>This does not include<a target="_blank" href="https://wordpress.org/"> WordPress</a>,<a target="_blank" href="https://www.joomla.org/"> Joomla</a> and the members of the CMS family, which are usually free software and requires quite a bit of coding in order to change the design. These are great tools to edit lots of content (hence the name, Content Management System).<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wordpress-ui.jpg" alt="Wordpress User Interface" />Neither does it include the great (but declining) family of installed desktop applications like<a target="_blank" href="http://bluegriffon.org/"> BlueGriffon</a> or <a target="_blank" href="http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver.html">Adobe Dreamweaver</a>.Today, the website builder world is dominated by proprietary web applications like<a target="_blank" href="http://www.wix.com/"> Wix</a>, a <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemium">Freemium</a> service, which offers a great way to design websites with little technical knowledge.The price is initially low, and they offer lots of beautiful free and paid templates. But there are drawbacks to choice and freedom to create without coding:<ul><li>They lock users and eventually the user will come to pay for an expensive hosting</li><li>In some cases, the company also monetizes the visitors of the websites created with their tool, either sacrificing their privacy or exposing them to ads</li></ul><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wix-ui.jpg" alt="Wix User Interface" /> More website builders can be found through our Website Builder Directory.<h2>The “Maker” Movement</h2>You should know that there is a “maker” movement within the website builder industry.This growing community tends to provide free and open source alternatives to these kinds of tools, putting users in a position of power. Here are some examples:<ul><li>Facebook has<a target="_blank" href="https://joindiaspora.com/"> Diaspora</a></li><li>Gmail has<a target="_blank" href="https://roundcube.net/"> Roundcube</a></li><li>Dropbox has <a target="_blank" href="https://owncloud.org/">OwnCloud</a></li><li>And a French non profit organization has all Google products in sights: <a target="_blank" href="https://degooglisons-internet.org/?l=en">meet Framasoft</a></li></ul>Another options would be the<a target="_blank" href="http://www.silexlabs.org"> French non profit organization; Silex Labs</a>. They have developed a tool to teach people web design, and it turns out that it is a very good free (as in freedom) alternative to proprietary website builders.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.silex.me/"> Here is Silex, the first free and open source website builder</a>.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/silex-ui.png" alt="Silex User Interface" /> Silex User InterfaceHowever, at this time, Silex has a limited amount of free and paid templates, and must be self-hosted. To help change that, the non-profit has started a crowd funding campaign to produce more templates, documentation and also to add a “responsive mode” to their editor.Crowd funding and open source work well in tandem, helping to make powerful software which suits the needs of those who contribute.It is also a way to build an ecosystem of third party tools and services. So far, Indie Hosters has started offering free hosting and discounted services for those who contribute to Silex's campaign.* * *This post is sponsored by Silex Labs. Find out more at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.silexlabs.org/">SilexLabs.org</a>.

Website Building in 2016: The Maker Movement

Drupal has always been promoted as the tool for developers by developers.
While we at <a href="http://www.DrupalPartners.com" target="_blank">Drupal Partners</a> fully embrace this mantra, there is a whole community that often gets left out of this conversation – the creative community.
<img style="display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/drupal700x0.png" />
Sure, there’s the development part of Drupal, but there’s also the incredibly important “using that development” in interesting and beautiful ways. And that’s where the creatives come in: They run with the development and make the theme/idea their own.
That leads to the question, “How is Drupal a good fit for artists/designers/photographers (aka creatives)?” If you are a creative person looking for the best tool to showcase your work, we think Drupal is a strong and really fantastic choice. In fact, here are 6 reasons Drupal is a great fit for creatives
<h2>1. Drupal Themes are Flexible, Adaptable &amp; Look Wonderful</h2>
As a creative, you work really hard on your project/idea to make it look fantastic. When you’re ready to put it on the web, you want your work to be displayed/optimized/showcased in the best way possible, reflecting all the time you’ve put into it.
When Drupal 7 hit the market, the myth that, “Drupal isn’t designer-friendly” vanished. Proof: Drupal 7 alone is packed with over 450 downloadable themes and 20,000 modules/plug-ins. Many of these themes are perfect for the creative: The themes are feature-rich with responsive layouts, smart content administration, image optimization and much more. In fact, here’s a <a href="http://www.creativebloq.com/web-design/drupal-themes-6133264"> list of free themes </a> , many made with the creative in mind.
But what if you can’t find a theme that’s just right? Drupal’s flexible nature and open source architecture have created a <a href="http://www.drupical.com/"> huge community </a> of developers and users. These people live, eat and breathe Drupal and are more than happy to help you realize your creative vison for your website.
<h2>2. Drupal Themes Make Managing Your Site Easy</h2>
So. You’ve scoured potential <a href="http://visionwidget.com/free-drupal-7-themes.html"> Drupal Themes </a> and found the perfect fit. You, the creative, are very excited about your new, classy looking website that reflects your personal style. What’s left now? Managing the site. AKA – The boring part.
No worries – Drupal is known for its simple content administration and the flexibility to modify, extend and scale your requirements as your site traffic grows. With astonishing levels of customization, you won’t have to spend hours making things fit here, then do that over there, and then connect this to that, etc. 
 With Drupal, you just add a module, make a few custom changes and you’re done. One of our favorite modules: Static page caching. This makes for quick photo and large file load times. Ideal for the photographer.
<h2>3. Drupal Manages User-generated Content Intelligently</h2>
If you thrive on <a href="http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/U/UGC.html"> user-generated content </a> (think user submitted blogs, videos, polls), then this one’s for you. Drupal comes with an intelligent architecture that helps establish relationships among differing types of content and then categorizes them. 
 This saves you the time and energy of making sure everything fits and makes sense. Drupal makes managing your content fast and simple, giving you more time to do what you love: create!
<h2>4. Want your Designs to go International? Drupal Does That</h2>
Fun fact: The  <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/opinion/sunday/are-we-really-monolingual.html?_r=0"> average number of languages </a> spoken per person is 1.58. Another fun fact: There are over 6,500 different spoken languages on earth. Unless you plan on learning all 6,000+ languages, Drupal has you covered with its Internationalization plug-in for multilingual support. Showcase your art in different languages simultaneously and save money on translation services. 
 That means your photo journal, blog entry or graphic design could go viral in several languages!
<h2>5. Drupal Sites are Spacious</h2>
In Drupal, you can have thousands of pages and subpages. And then some. On top of that, you can add as many users as you want to help you edit/maintain those pages. If you have a site limitation and space issue, Drupal is a great fit. 
 Also, to get more space, moving from your old content management system to Drupal is 100% possible. We call this “Drupal Migration.” When you migrate, all your content, comments, media and files are transferred without losing any data.
<h2>6. Jump the Training Curve Quick – Drupal is Easy and Fun to Learn</h2>
We get it – you’re a creative and that means your time is always valuable. On top of that, the idea of learning a new system might give you the jitters. Rest easy! If done right, managing a Drupal site is very simple and intuitive. Also, as mentioned before, there is a big community of Drupal users and groups that love helping newbies learn the ropes.
And there you have it – our six reasons why Drupal is a great fit for creatives. If you’re looking for a content/website managing system that is flexible to your needs and makes your creative work look fabulous, then Drupal is right for you.

6 Reasons Why Drupal Is A Great Fit For Creatives

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Spot what confuses your users with Hotjar & AI

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Mozilla Firefox has long been one of my favorite browsers. I think perhaps it stems from the fact that it was one of the first to really take over from the dreaded Internet Explorer monster that still haunts me to this very day. The latest release of Firefox 13 really helped seal the deal for me as far as confirming why I use it as my regular browser day to day. Today, I thought I'd take a look at the latest release and share with you my Mozilla Firefox Review.
Mozilla Firefox 13 brings with it some welcome enhancements such as the introduction of a thumbnail page that functions almost exactly the same as the Speed Dial page found in Opera.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/8x5txlt3f7st_kk4upn.png" alt="Mozilla Firefox Review" /> Firefox 13 -Thumbnail Page
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/opera-speed-dial-620x406.png" alt="Mozilla Firefox Review" /> Opera – Speed Dial
Opera has had their Speed Dial functionality for quite some time and it's good to see that Firefox has gone this route as well (as has Google Chrome).
From within the thumbnail page, you can easily pin your favorites or remove them using the icons that appear when hovering over each individual thumbnail:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/firefox-13-pinnable-thumbnails.png" alt="Mozilla Firefox Review" />
The only obvious difference I can find between this implementation and that of Opera is that you can not add your own custom thumbnails manually. Firefox simply pulls them from your recently visited websites. Perhaps, if it's a feature people decide they want, the Mozilla guys will have it implemented down the road.
Along with the thumbnail page is the introduction of a new Mozilla Firefox home page, complete with handy quick link icons that launch the most common menu items within the browser:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/content-1_png_1170x1170_q90_crop_subsampling-2_y8v6z0.png" alt="Mozilla Firefox Review" /> Firefox 13 – New Home Page
The team at Mozilla have done a great job putting this together and these simple touches to the home page make it a great default for users. Just like we see in the CMS world, customer experience is the key and Mozilla appear to be both aware of this and focused on it.
Of particular interest in this release is the introduction of Tabs on demand. This means that when you have to restart your browser (after installing an addon, etc), the browser will only reload your last active tab. Your other tabs will open as well but will not load until you actually click on one of them. This is handy for those of you that surf with 10+ tabs at a time and often have to wait for each one to reload on a relaunch before beginning to continue your work.
It's the simple things that matter and Firefox 13 brings some definite improvements. This release also incorporates the SPDY protocol and it's completely enabled with this release. It was present in previous ones but not enabled by default.
For those unfamiliar with the SPDY protocol, it was developed primarily by Google and here's how it's described (warning: Serious geek speak ahead!):
<blockquote>The goal of SPDY is to reduce web page load time. This is achieved by prioritizing and multiplexing the transfer of web page subresources so that only one connection per client is required. TLS encryption is nearly ubiquitous in SPDY implementations, and transmissions are gzip or DEFLATE compressed by design (in contrast to HTTP, where the headers are not compressed). Moreover, servers may hint or even push content instead of awaiting individual requests for each resource of a web page.</blockquote>
For those who glazed over trying to read and understand that, I apologize and welcome back.
To summarize this Firefox Review, Firefox 13 feels faster and more usable to me and even if it's on account of a placebo effect, I'll take it. I think this new release brings this great browser one step closer to perfect (when combined with the amazing Firebug that is) and I can't wait for the next release.
To learn more about Firefox 13, check out the <a href="http://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2012/06/05/firefox-has-a-redesigned-home-page-and-new-tab-experience-that-make-browsing-the-web-faster-and-easier/" target="_blank">introduction post on their blog</a> or <a href="http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/fx/" target="_blank">download it</a>. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this Firefox Review or the product itself. Share them in the comments below!

Mozilla Firefox Review: A Faster, More Efficient Web Browser

When you build a website – or in this case, an online store, it's nice to feel the support of a community behind you. <a href="http://www.prestashop.com/" target="_blank"> PrestaShop</a> recognise, and facilitate that.
The free to use, user friendly online store builder boasts a <a href="http://www.prestashop.com/forums/" target="_blank"> fully fledged online forum</a> with discussions spanning a range of topics related to PrestaShop itself, and the wider prospect of selling online.
But there's more to PrestaShop than just a thriving online community. In fact, the platform is bursting at the seams with features.
<h2>Online Store Features Galore</h2>
PrestaShop has over 310 built-in features and functionalities, accompanied by over 3,500 modules and templates. Naturally then, building a unique online store with the platform should be a piece of cake.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/presta1700x0.png" alt="PrestaShop" /> 
The admin dashboard is simple, yet it doesn't leave much out. After signing in, you'll be presented with vital store information relating to sales, page views, and other statistics. All areas of your online store can be accessed and modified within the dashboard, giving you complete control over how your store looks and works.
Some of the general features you'll eventually come across in PrestaShop will allow you to optimize your website for search engines, create marketing campaigns, review website statistics, and more.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/presta2700x0.png" alt="PrestaShop" />
Additionally, <a href="https://addons.prestashop.com/en/?utm_source=prestaEN&amp;utm_medium=Modules&amp;utm_campaign=prestashop" target="_blank">PrestaShop's Official Marketplace</a> provides pretty much everything you need to make your online store the best it can possibly be.
With a myriad of themes and modules to choose from, you can go about implementing new payment options, marketing tools, customer service functions, and so forth.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/presta5700x0.png" alt="PrestaShop" /> 
The PrestaShop Official Marketplace even holds regular sales, giving its worldwide community a chance to grab high quality modules and templates at discounted prices.
<h2>A Professional Helping Hand</h2>
With so many features to learn and implement, <a href="http://www.prestashop.com/en/training-prestashop" target="_blank">PrestaShop offer a range of training courses</a> to help you get the hang of their platform.
PrestaShop's dedicated training courses are held online, in English, at various points throughout the year. The online courses offer two days worth of helpful content, offered in three packages to target different user types, from complete beginner to aspiring PrestaShop expert.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/presta3700x0.png" alt="PrestaShop" />
The help doesn't stop there though. You can also <a href="http://addons.prestashop.com/en/35-guides-training-official" target="_blank">purchase further guides and training packages</a> from the PrestaSgop Marketplace.
So, whether you're a brand new online merchant looking for some professional advice, or if you simply want to optimize your store and your selling skills to the best of your ability, PrestaShop can offer the helping hand you need.
<h2>A Sense of Community</h2>
As previously mentioned, PrestaShop offers an interestingly active online forum community, where users can ask questions, share strategies and learn about the extensive features within the PrestaShop platform.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/presta4700x0.png" alt="PrestaShop" />
The forum allows you to discuss general PrestaShop issues, third-party modules, themes, and even job offers.
Some of the discussion boards within the PrestaShop community hold thousands upon thousands of topics and replies. Hence, finding solutions to problems, and ideas for improving your store should come very easily. Not to mention, it's nice knowing that  you have a like-minded community to fall back on if you were to face any issues.
Also, to accommodate PrestaShop's international user base, the forums have dedicated sections for a very wide range of languages and regions, allowing you to connect not just with other PrestaShop users, but local ones too.
 Does PrestaShop sound good? Find out more about <a href="/products/prestashop/" target="_blank"> PrestaShop via our CMS Directory</a>. Or, check out their website to <a href="http://www.prestashop.com/" target="_blank">download PrestaShop</a> for yourself.

PrestaShop: a Free, Feature-filled Online Store Builder With a Thriving Community

In the open source world, there are primarily three content management systems that hold the top spot when it comes to word of mouth, popularity and implementations. While WordPress far outpaces the other two; Joomla and Drupal; when it comes to installs and user base, they still maintain a pretty hefty following. Just because these systems are at the top, however, does not mean they are always the best option (see my previous post entitled <a href="/wordpress-joomla-and-drupal-are-not-the-best-cms/">WordPress, Drupal and Joomla are NOT the best CMS</a>.Today, I'm going to  outline the top 7 mistakes people make when choosing WordPress, Drupal or Joomla for their CMS.<h2>7. “Someone recommended it, so I chose to use it.”</h2>A very common mistake I see being made on websites nowadays are blanket recommendations of products from people with experience using only that product or, even worse, people who just want to offer an opinion for the sake of doing so. Take a look on Q &amp; A websites like Quora for instance and you'll see tons of foolish recommendations to people that offer little to no information.Here is a typical question on Quora asking for CMS recommendations with a fantastic response from someone who is smart enough to not recommend a product without more information:<figure class="image"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/snapshot1.png" /></figure>What I didn't show you is the list of answers with responses such as “The best one is WordPress” from someone who has no idea what the requirements are. Sadly, there are tons of people throwing out these types of recommendations. I appreciate when people like Mr. Memud above step up to try to put some clarity to the questions.You should never just choose to go with a CMS because someone recommended it, regardless of whether that person is someone with experience or not. Make sure you explore the product fully, try it out in a demo environment and see if it suits your needs BEFORE implementing it as your CMS of choice. Most people wouldn't buy a car without a test drive and you shouldn't get a CMS without one either.<h2>6. It's one of the top three open source CMS.</h2>Never choose something just because of word of mouth because honestly, it doesn't mean much. Popularity of a product has nothing to do with whether it's the right product for your job. Always make sure you take the time to explore the product and get a run through from someone in the know before you make a selection. There's a reason why the typical RFP process for CMS selection takes several weeks to several months.<h2>5. They have a plugin that I want to use.</h2>Never, ever, ever choose a CMS just because it works with your favorite plugin. Believe it or not, it's not that expensive to hire a freelancer to code you an integration if you really need it and you'll not be forced to make a compromise in usability.<h2>4. I found a pretty theme!</h2>There are theme developers all over the world that can hash out beautiful designs for minimal cost. Don't choose a CMS just because someone developed a pretty theme you like.<h2>3. It's free.</h2>Never choose a product JUST because it's free. If cost is a factor and you absolutely have no budget, that's fine but do make sure you take the time to explore ALL of the free products on the market that fit your requirements. Use resources like our CMS directory to find a number of great products.<h2>2. It's open source.</h2>Are you an open source promoter? Do you prefer open source products? Fantastic. Is that a reason to choose a product for your business? No, it's not. You should be responsible and take the time to make sure you explore the products that best suit your projects needs first. If an open source solution happens to be one of them and it comes down to that being a deciding factor AFTER vetting out that it fits your base requirements and needs then perfect but never make it a primary factor in your decision.<h2>1. A website I like is using it, so I should.</h2>No. Just no. As with every other point I've made above, make sure you always test out each product thoroughly and that it first your requirements first and foremost.—In a nutshell, in case you haven't figured out my point by now… don't choose a CMS just due to a single reason. Always make sure you explore all of the available options out there. If you aren't sure what options there are, use tools like our <a href="/products/">CMS directory</a> or ask us in the forums. If you need more in-depth assistance, <a href="/contact/">drop me a line</a> and I'd be more than happy to give you a hand. We offer top notch <a href="/contact">CMS consulting</a> based on our many years of experience using the many products on the market. When it comes to consulting, no other group can offer as much insight into the products on the market than we can.

The Top 7 Mistakes People Make when Choosing WordPress, Drupal or Joomla

<a href="http://www.sitecore.net/" target="_blank">Sitecore</a> have made their Experience Platform 8 available for general release.
<a href="/the-keynote-sitecore-north-american-symposium-symna/" target="_blank">Revealed at Sitecore's 2014 Symposium</a>, this latest version of the Sitecore Experience Platform enables marketers to create, deliver and optimize unique digital experiences throughout the customer lifecycle.
Also known as Sitecore XP 8, the new platform shortens the time it takes to gain insights, make marketing decisions, and then put them into action.
Data analytics are built in, giving marketers constant feedback on content effectiveness and performance, while recommending actions accordingly. Automatic testing and continuous content optimization ensures that everything can be constantly refined if necessary.
<img style="max-width:400px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sitecore_logo_400x0.gif" />
<h2>New Interface, Intelligent Insights &amp; More</h2>
Sitecore 8 is undoubtedly going to empower the marketing teams around the world, and in turn the enterprising entities they work for. Here's a break down of what's new.
Brand New Interface: Sitecore XP 8 has a completely new user interface, providing a clean, consistent user experience for every Sitecore user. All features still work like they did in previous versions, too. This all makes learning to use Sitecore much quicker and easier, and lowers training and support costs.
Single Customer View: The Sitecore Experience 8 Profile provides a single view of each individual customer, used for real time personalization, segmentation and analytics. Sitecore collects and connects data about the whole customer experience, making it immediately available to marketers to continue ongoing conversations and provide highly relevant and personalized experiences for their customers.
Intelligent Analytics &amp; Insights: Sitecore XP 8 shortens the time it takes to gain insights, make a decision and take action. Sitecore uses Engagement Value to measure what’s working, what’s not, and recommends what action to take, throughout Sitecore’s Experience Marketing tools. Sitecore’s Experience Analytics help marketers understand what is performing, and with whom. Sitecore also harnesses and analyzes data from non-Sitecore sites, CRM, ERP, and POS systems.
Non-stop Testing &amp; Optimization: With Sitecore XP 8, everything can be optimized. All content changes can now be automatically A/B tested, by any content creator. Personalized content can be tested against its default control base content. Advanced optimization experts also have all the tools they need to set up sophisticated test scenarios, like multi-variate tests, built into the platform. So every component and every channel can be fine-tuned for performance, continuously.
Dynamic Segmentation &amp; Automation: Sitecore enables target segments to be created based on any information in the Experience Profile – like demographic data and behavior – for real-time content personalization, email communication, and automated nurturing campaigns. Segments are directly usable with Sitecore’s automation and email marketing capabilities.
Cross-channel Experience Delivery: Sitecore customers can now use Sitecore as a central hub to manage all of their digital properties, even non-Sitecore sites.  New customers can start to leverage Sitecore functionality immediately on existing sites, and marketers inheriting legacy sites can rapidly bring them under the brand umbrella.
Michael Seifert, the CEO of Sitecore, made the following comments.
<blockquote>“The goal with Sitecore XP 8 was to give time back to marketers and free them up to be marketers again. Sitecore makes it simple for all marketers to create unique customer experiences – by knowing every customer, and shaping each experience.”</blockquote>
To learn more about Sitecore 8, check out the <a href="http://www.sitecore.net/About/Press-and-Media/Press-Releases/2014/12/Sitecore-8-GA.aspx" target="_blank">official press release</a>, <a href="http://www.sitecore.net/Platform/Sitecore-8.aspx" target="_blank">Sitecore's overview</a>, as well as their informative <a href="http://www.sitecore.net/Learn/Resources-Library/White-Papers/Introducing-Sitecore-8.aspx" target="_blank">Sitecore 8 white paper</a>.
Also, make sure you explore more of <a href="/products/sitecore/" target="_blank">Sitecore through our CMS Directory</a>.

Sitecore Launches Sitecore Experience Platform 8

<a href="http://www.shoplocket.com" target="_blank">ShopLocket</a> makes eCommerce accessible. Plain and simple as that. With the technical skill it takes to upload and share a photo you can setup a product for sale. That sounds easy, but what about the real life process? As I have said before “I am glad you asked!” Read on to find out how we rate this eCommerce tool in this ShopLocket Review.
<h3>It is really easy, I'm serious</h3>
Start by visiting www.shoplocket.com. You can log in using your Facebook credentials or using your email address and a password you specify. Big points for logging in via Facebook account. Who wants to have to remember another account name and password right?
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/shoplocket_login.png" alt="ShopLocket review" />
You will see a page listing your products you have for sale with some stats for each. If you have no products set up yet you can start by clicking on New Product.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/shoplocket_yourproducts-620x416.png" alt="ShopLocket review" />
You will get to the new product setup page and start by adding the name, description, price, and “multiple options” if appropriate.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ingeniux_cms_assets_f0bxh8.png" alt="ShopLocket review" />
Then your product will need an image … or four, but no more than four because that is all that is allowed at this time.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ingeniux_cms_assets_2_dwjqra.png" alt="ShopLocket review" />
The “Customize” tab lets you add tax, shipping, number of items, sale price comparison, and expiration. Do not let your item go stale, put it on sale. Ok that was a bit much, but you get the opportunity to bring increased interest using sales pricing and urgency with expiring the item after so long.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/shoplocket_customize.png" alt="ShopLocket review" />
<h3>Time to Share</h3>
You have your products set up and ready to go. Now you just have to share them with the world. ShopLocket has you covered with many sharing abilities over social media, but with the iframe embedding option, you can drop the product on almost any webpage or blog post.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigstock-website-analytics-and-seo-data-77090498_ucc6vp.jpg" alt="ShopLocket review" />
Here is a link to the product I created for this ShopLocket review: Good Reputation for Sale and here's the embedded product straight from ShopLocket.
[[shoplocket]]
Pretty cool isn't it?
<h3>Wait a minute, how do I get paid?</h3>
ShopLocket connects to PayPal and Stripe for easy payment options. You get email notification on orders purchased through their eCommerce platform. What about fees? No upfront fees so if your product totally bombs you will not be charged. If you do make a sale, then there is a one time $2 publishing fee and 2.9% transaction fee after that for each sale in addition to PayPal or Stripe fees.
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
That is my ShopLocket Review. ShopLocket has made eCommerce easier and dare I say “more fun.” Not only that but they have given clients a way to leverage their social networks to get followers directly to the sales page.  Interested in learning more? Visit <a href="http://www.shoplocket.com" target="_blank">ShopLocket</a> or leave your comments on this ShopLocket Review below.

ShopLocket review - Embed Your eCommerce

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